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4 Things to Ask When Buying Outplacement Services in Washington DC

When it comes to finding outplacement services in Washington DC, you have many options. While this is a great thing, we all like choices, it can make it hard to find what provider will fit your needs while also offering you a price you can afford.

Like many other services, outplacement has grown alongside technology, allowing cutting-edge companies to spring up where traditional firms once dominated. This creates even more choice! Though, after some simple digging, you can easily see that new, modernized firms are the way to go and spotting the best ones isn't that tricky after all.

To help you figure out what outplacement services in Washington DC make the cut, consider these four things when you're shopping around in the area.

1. Eliminate the Commute

It’s 2017, virtually everything can be done online, why not outplacement? Consider this: you are about to break some difficult news to people that will most definitely transform their entire lives. The anxiety of the transition will already be overwhelming enough, so why not make the entire process as easy as possible?

Accordingto data from the New Census Bureau, the DC area has the second WORST commute times in all of America. It can take anywhere up to an hour both ways to commute back and forth to the office.

Now imagine you’ve just been laid off and you now must travel the second longest commute route in all of the country just to meet with a career coach for the next (hopefully) 12 weeks of your life until you're placed in a new role. That doesn't sound fun, easy, or stress free. Actually, it's the opposite of all of those things.

Instead of this, look for a virtual outplacement provider that foregoes the commute entirely, making it super easy for your employees to use the service. After all, if they can't get to the service, what's the point of even buying the service?

So, what should be considered when shopping for a virtual outplacement service?

Key word: Flexibility.

When comparing traditional services to those that are managed in a virtual environment, you want to be sure that the quality of the service isn’t sacrificed. Some questions to consider asking are what are the ratios between coaches and participants? How much time will be spent with the participant until placement? And most importantly, what is the average time until placement?

In short, find the best of both worlds. This means finding a virtual firm that also has an expert career coaching staff so that your employees get back to work faster and in roles that perfectly match their wants and needs.

Our research has shown a 98% satisfaction rate with participants that have had the option to choose between meeting with a coach face-to-face and/or completing their entire program online. 98% should be a number that sticks out. What that says is employees need more options. Make the transition easy and satisfactory for everyone involved.

2. Have Coaches That Understand Your Sector of Business

How frustrating must it be meeting with a coach that has never been through a hiring process before? Or worse, meeting with a coach that has no clue about your industry. There are plenty of horror stories where situations like this have occurred. As you look to buy outplacement services in DC, be sure you are taking into consideration the expertise of the coaches that will be handling the transition.

When dealing with executive level employees, it is important that they will be working with coaches that can truly offer valuable services so that they feel as though they are truly gaining a benefit by having an outplacement program available. Ask questions about the coaches to ensure they can handle whatever you need of them.

Mid to lower level employees are just as important, too. They need coaches that will help them develop resumes that will actually be picked up and considered in their industry. Having coaches that understand keywords, the power of networking - both through social and in-person - is key to having a successful outplacement service for your organization.

3. Until Placement Support

Protect yourself and your employees from getting lost in the shuffle in group settings or with coaches that are not vested in placement. It is important to have participants strategically matched with a career coach for full engagement.

The average time it takes in a metropolitan area to land a new job is anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. Severance packages are all unique, some exiting employees may not be able to handle the financial strain, which can cause unnecessary resentment.

It is important to know the average time to placement as you are searching for outplacement services. And it is also important to have a provider that will ensure that no participant gets lost in transition and left without the tools needed to find work.

We suggest finding a firm that works with participants until placement instead of ones using term limits that can force your employee to go through the process alone after a given amount of time. For example, some firms only work with clients for a few months or a few weeks. Like we mentioned above, the job hunt can take a whopping 6 months sometimes, meaning that it is super important that they have support the whole way through.

4. Enhance and Protect Your Personal Brand

It's no secret that brand protection will be at the forefront of concerns when you have to hold a RIF or other layoff event. The last thing any company wants to face is laying off disgruntled employees that could come back with a lawsuit, negative social media posts, etc.

If you are facing any sort of reduction in force, a mass layoff or maybe even eliminating a team, don’t second guess having an outplacement service ready to be utilized.

By showing your staff that you support them even after they leave the organization, you mitigate the risks that your exiting employees will tarnish your brand in some way. Also, outplacement shows your surviving staff that they are in good hands and that you will go above and beyond when it comes to their well being. In short, outplacement is a win-win for everyone involved.